


A bloody mess

by s-kiz (pigalle)



Series: Supernatural shenanigans and vampire messes [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Bang Chan-centric, Gen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology References, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Secret Identity, Vampire Bang Chan, but I pretty much accidentally made it that, like it's not technically multifandom, the others are different creatures from various mythologies, there will be talk about blood, uhh should I fandom tag the other groups featured in this?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-02-10 22:23:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18669550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigalle/pseuds/s-kiz
Summary: Chan wanted to die. Well, not really. But maybe. Just a little bit. And maybe he would — it sure felt like it. To be honest, even though he’d been a vampire for a few years, Chan didn’t actually know if not drinking blood for too long could actually kill him. Like, logically it should, right? There’s a reason he needs the blood in the first place.Or, Chan goes to a supernatural university to study music and is forced to pretend he isn't a vampire.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, to this monstrosity!
> 
> The title is a pun on the British swear and blood — because vampire.
> 
> I'm gonna have so much to say/note about the different supernatural creatures they are, but I'll add them when they become relevant as they are introduced in the story. I'll just begin with adding now that I have made som own liberties with vampires, and they aren't exactly like they always are, but then again most stories make them different either way.
> 
> I have like borrowed their names and personalities and relations between people to make this story. Idk, you can ignore this, it’s just me who personally feel slightly weird writing about real life living people. (Thought, idk, I’m feeling less and less of this??)
> 
> This isn’t technically multifandom, I just borrowed character/people from other fandom/groups. Their age in this story might not always reflect their actual age.
> 
> Where I’m from it’s quite common that not everyone in a uni class is the same age — people maybe took a break and worked in between, they’ve studied other things before, or they have later in life decided to study. One of my classmates started the subject 10 years ago, took a break and worked, and then started again in my class. So I’m using my experiences and taking liberties with age-relations. That’s why this story for example has people of 3 different ages (Chan, Minho and Changbin) all in the 1st year, while Woojin who is the same ages as Chan is in his second year (and also Jungwoo who is the same age as Minho is in Woojin’s class).  
> I sort of motivate this as them all being supernatural creatures have a harder time getting in a “normal” school, and this supernatural oriented school can’t accept however many people every year.  
> This is also why most people (if not practically all) at this school is some kind of supernatural creature — while there is no “rule” against humans, they generally tend to not apply here because they don’t really want to go to school with supernatural creatures when there are other options of schools generally considered as better or more esteemed. One exception to this would be the music program that Chan studies, that is within the business considered to be one of the best educations, and also very practical/hands on rather than just theoretical.
> 
> If I'm being confusing at some point or you wonder something about the creatures and mythology behind them, ask and I'll do my best to explain more - I'm also just very nerdy for mythology, and have tried to use as much as I can not just the standard vampires & werewolves that are common in supernatural stories.
> 
> I also really don't know how long this will turn out or how quick I'll be with updating, but we'll see as we come along on this journey - I have a lot of plans and ideas for things I want to happen in this story.
> 
> Also, some probably not necessary info as such, but based on when the school year typically starts in Korea - which ended up working out real well for me and when I wanted things to happen - the school year here starts on 4th of March, a Monday. All dates here are based on 2019, but the story isn't necessarily set in 2019, it's just to make it easier to figure out when things are in relation to each other.
> 
> I'm not finished completely with deciding on creatures for side characters, so I you have some creatures you wanna see featured, no matter how obscure and unknown they may be, let me know, I'd really appreciate the help! And if anyone wanna help me “bolla idéer” as you would say in Swedish, just like hit me up somewhere?

When Chan moved to Korea from Australia he hadn’t expected his life to change particularly drastically. Not like  _ this _ .

He had not imagined that he would be sitting in the backseat of a taxi, staring at his computer screen, on his way to the university he was going to study music at. Or, maybe, all of that he could have imagined himself doing, even if he didn’t dare dream that it would actually become his reality. Rather, it was the reason he was sitting in a taxi, slightly drowsy from not having slept for three days.

Although he didn’t really  _ need _ to sleep in that sense of the word, he still, even after a few years, had not gotten used to the fact, and did best from sleeping at least an hour or two every night.

And the taxi. The taxi was a detail he wished could have had to do with money, and not the fact he was not allowed on public transportation — unless under very specific circumstances perhaps. It was one of the, how to say, disadvantages of his new life. That and the constant suspicions and vary glances. And of course, one cannot forget the blood. A rather vital part of any vampire’s life.

So, the drastic change he had not expected? Being turned into a vampire.

Though that hadn’t really changed his personality, and it certainly hadn’t changed his habit of staying up all night on his computer, mostly working on music. Music that he somehow had still ended up behind on. They did not exactly have a deadline, but Changbin and Jisung had been waiting on him to finish for several days now. 3racha, as they had named their little group, had technically only just released their first songs, but that also meant that the time leading up to that had been spent mostly on tweaking, and no actual songwriting. So they had set a deadline for themselves to have something written — perhaps not necessarily done yet — for their one month anniversary. But Chan hadn’t been able to even  _ write _ anything.

He let his head thump back against the neck rest with a sigh, finally acknowledging his pinging phone. When he checked the screen, he had almost 20 unread messages in the groupchat he had with Changbin and Jisung.

 

 

**[3racha]**

**J.One:**  hyung!!  
 **J.One:**  the song  
 **J.One:**  what are you doing seriously  
 **J.One:**  shouldn’t you be done soon?

 **SPEARB** : give him a break  
 **SPEARB:**  hyung will finish when he do

 **J.One:**  yeah but the deadline was like 11 days ago

 **SPEARB:**  it’s just for ourselves  
 **SPEARB:**  it’s not that important  
 **SPEARB:**  it’s more important that hyung takes care of himself  
 **SPEARB:**  he needs sleep  
 **SPEARB:**  you can’t expect him to not sleep

 **J.One:** right  
 **J.One:**  sorry hyung  
 **J.One:**  but at least let us know how far you’ve come  
 **J.One:**  also  
 **J.One:**  how far from uni you are

 **SPEARB:**  oh!  
 **SPEARB:**  you're coming today right hyung?

 

Chan let out a sight but began typing out his reply.

 

 **CB97:**  yeah i think i’m almost there  
 **CB97:**  and the song is  
 **CB97:**  doing something

 **J.One:**  what does that even mean???

 **CB97:**  idk  
 **CB97:**  im sorry  
 **CB97:**  im tired and hungry  
 **CB97:**  ill really try to finish it today, okay?

 **SPEARB:**  :(  
 **SPEARB:**  pls get some sleep when you get here

 **J.One:**  and eat smth!

 

Oh, how he wished he could just “eat something”. But he had only one package left, and wasn’t sure when he would be getting more blood.

 

 **J.One:**  we can meet up and have a late lunch/early dinner if you want

 **CB97:**  no its fine  
 **CB97:**  i think ill just get settled in my room and take a nap or something

 

No. He couldn’t eat with them. So far, they had only met in person once, and throughout all of their communication with each other, their status hadn’t exactly come up. So Chan just … hadn’t told them he’s a vampire. Which was probably for the best. And as long he could keep it that way, he would.

The small blessing with his whole situation was that for “safety reasons” he was given a single room. So at least he’d have his own space to retreat to and get away from people. Because it was unavoidable that they would hate him for being a vampire.

What if Changbin and Jisung did too when they found out?

 

**CB97** : gtg almost there

 

The taxi had turned right, following a sign towards the dorm buildings, passing through a gate. Chan could see them through the windshield, several tall, bland looking brick buildings standing in a row, a single floored building connecting them along the shorter sides. That meant there was probably only one way to enter the whole dorms, most likely also with someone there for surveillance. Chan wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not.

The taxi came to a stop in a marked drop-off spot. Chan hurried to close his computer and stuff it back in his backpack, not wanting to leave the driver waiting for too long. Said driver had already unloaded Chan’s duffel bag and two suitcases from the trunk of the car, and was waiting by them for his payment.

Taking a taxi should perhaps be quite easy, but Chan did not just need to pay, but also show the driver three different cards.There was the — at least subsidized — Traffic Card (that showed he was allowed to take a taxi or another non-crowded form of transportation, and for a slightly lower price — but no public transportation), the Public Permission Slip, and his ID, very clearly stating the fact that he’s a vampire. Although, one could say he’s quite fortunate. He knew that there were some vampires who were not allowed the Traffic Card, or even the Public Permission Slip. Chan had those, so he could, all things considered, live a fairly normal life. It could be worse.

Sure, he needed to show the Public Permission Slip whenever he took a taxi, or went to a public crowded place, or just anywhere he’d be in close quarters with other people. But he could have been deemed dangerous enough to have not been given those privileges. He should feel grateful.

The taxi driver checked his cards with his face set in grim lines, the same expression he’s been wearing since Chan showed his ID before getting in the taxi. The man took his money with a grunt when he’d deemed everything correct, and didn’t waste any time getting back in the car and driving off.

Chan squinted at the bright light of the sun, and pulled up his hood. He was wearing sunscreen and a hoodie over his jeans, but he still felt exposed. Sometimes he missed being able to stretch out in the sun and not wearing clothes that could give him a heatstroke. Well,  _ would have _ given him a heat stroke if he was still human.

With a sigh he hoisted up his duffel bag and started dragging the suitcases to the building — the faster he could get settled in his room the better. At least luck was on his side that the doors into the building was automated and slid open for him just as he was about to set aside his bags to open it.

He hadn’t gotten further than a few steps into the surprisingly spacy lobby when a desk attendant to his left looked up from her computer and smiled at him.

“Hello, how can I help you? Are you checking into your room?”

“Yes,” he answered her, steering himself and all the bags in her direction.

“Do you have your acceptance papers with you?”

_ Oh, right, those _ . “Yeah, I have them here somewhere.” Chan hurried to put the bags down and started rifling through his backpack for the papers. He’d double checked before leaving that he had everything he needed within easy access, but with his luck he wouldn’t be surprised if he’d managed to put them somewhere else.

“I will need those to sign you in to our dorm system.” She was pointedly not looking at him, instead staring at the screen of the computer, drumming her nails against the desk.

Chan finally managed to find them within the mess of his bag and handed them over. The attendant took them, scanning through them quickly before beginning to type away. After a few minutes she looked back up, reaching he hand forward with a smile.

“Here’s your key. You will be staying in room A305. It’s on the 3rd floor of the furthest building to the left from here.”

Chan took the key and thanked her with a bow. That had gone a lot easier than he had expected it too, but he wasn’t about to complain. Instead he headed in the direction she had indicated, and went through the last set of doors in the corridor.

He somehow managed to drag all his stuff into the elevator and press the button to the 3rd floor. The ride was quick, and then he had to work quickly on getting the bags back out before the doors closed. He did almost end up squished at least twice, but in the end got all his stuff over to the door labeled “A305”.

He placed all his bags next to the door and fished out the key from his pocket, all while looking at the long spaces between doors in confusion. He would have thought that singles would be … smaller, that the doors would be closer to each other in the corridor.

While still glancing around the corridor Chan turned the key in the lock and opened the door, getting ready to haul all his bags inside when movement caught his eye. He whipped around and found himself staring straight at another person. A person that was inside room A305.

“Oh, sorry,” Chan mumbled and almost slammed the door shut again. How could he have been given the wrong room information? Was the desk attendant that tired? She hadn’t seemed like it.

With a sigh, he went back to the elevator and headed for the frontdesk again.

“Excuse me.”

The attendant looked up, smiling. “Yes, what can I help you with?”

“It think I was given the wrong key, there was already someone inside room A305.”

“Hm, I’ll check again, then.”

Chan waited anxiously as she typed. It had been stupid to think it was that easy to check in.

“Ah, no, everything seems to be right. You are in room A305.”

“Are you sure?" Chan pressed. “I was supposed to have a single.”

“Hm, alright, let me see your student-ID.”

_ Oh _ . “I haven’t received one yet?”

She looked up at him, a crease forming on her forehead.

“Well… let me see your regular ID then.”

_ Oh _ . Reluctantly he handed it over to her. He watched as she quickly glanced at it and then back to the computer screen, just for her eyes to shoot back to the ID with her eyebrows raised in shock. Her face went through several complex expression in just a few seconds before her mouth settled into a tight line.

“Just a moment.” She stood up and, still with a tight grip on his ID, walked through a doorway behind the desk, disappearing around a corner. Chan had no choice but to remain where he was.

After a few moments she popped back around the corner. “If you could step this way. You can leave your bags here behind the desk if you don’t want to drag them along. It will just be a few moments.”

Chan was almost reluctant to leave his belongings, but he could also see no reason why they wouldn’t be safe behind the desk. In the end he placed them in a corner behind the attendant but left his backpack on his back. At least he would still have his computer then.

“Head down the right corridor and knock on the door that says ‘warden’.”

Chan nodded in understanding and headed down the direction she had pointed. He knocked on the door and opened it when he heard a muffled “Come in.”

“Bang Chan, I presume?” A woman behind a desk asked, gesturing towards the chair in front of her.

“Yes, that’s me.” Chan answered, feeling awkward even as he sat down.

Chan had expected her to start talking right away, but she remained silent, watching him over the top the glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Chan found himself squirming in his seat despite wanting to remain still. It was just so unnerving to be watched like that, when he wasn’t even sure what he was doing in there in the first place.

Finally, after what felt like forever, she pushed the glasses up her nose and started talking. “I wanted to have a little talk with you about the current situation.”

Wording it like that, he felt like he was somehow at fault for getting the wrong room, even though he knew for a fact that he had no control over that.

“Due to … certain circumstances, your previously promised single is not available, and you will instead be sharing a room with two other students. I expect this to go smoothly and with no complications, understood?”

Chan nodded, feeling it the only thing he could really do in this situation.

At that, she stood up and moved to a set of drawers behind her. He couldn’t see what she was doing, but she came back holding a small card that she handed over to him.

“Right, so here’s your student-ID,” she said and sat back down. “From now on that is the ID you will be using. As far as all students and most staff will know, you are a nature spirit.”

_ Wait what? _

“Um, I’m not sure I’m following?”

“You are not allowed to tell anyone of your actual status, and so you should not show anyone your regular ID.” She was typing something on her computer, not sparing him even a glance at his confusion. “We have installed a small fridge for blood in your room, as well as a blood-cooker. You will be receiving a new delivery every Monday that you can get at the frontdesk.”

Chan leaned back in his chair and just looked at her — she was giving him information that was making his whole head spin and yet she did not even seem phased.

“Any questions?”

Many. He had many questions, but he settled for one that seemed the most pressing at the moment. “When is the first delivery?”

“On Monday, just as I said. You will be free to spread out your feedings over the week, but you are expected to need only that blood, am I clear?” Finally she looked at him, but with the expression she was wearing, Chan almost wished she hadn’t.

“Yes," he answered, just barely managing to not gulp. It was Wednesday today, and he had only one package of blood left from his last delivery. A delivery that used to be on Fridays. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get through the rest of the week.

“You also have a curfew at nine thirty sharp, understood? The gate locks at nine, after that you will need to ID yourself to get through. I expect you to not get into any trouble.”

Her words startled him back to the room, slowly taking in what exactly that meant for him. It made him feel like a  _ child _ . Like he couldn’t be trusted to take care of himself. Or rather, in this case he guessed it was more that he wasn’t trusted to behave himself under the cover of night.

He could already tell it was going to be a long year, and he hadn’t even been here a full day yet.


	2. First meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some minor edits to the first chapter, as well as added actual chapter names. If you don't want to go back and read it again, the only thing that wasn't fixing up some words, was the mention of passing through a gate to get to the dorm area - it will be somewhat important later on.
> 
> This chapter isn't as long as the other (I wanted to have a certain scene as the start of a chapter, and this turned long enough that it could be a chapter on its own) - but I want you to know that I've made a calendar for when things happen, as well as made an Actual schedule for Chan's classes (as well as partly for some more people) - that's the level of committed I am!
> 
> I also made some [moodboard edits](https://aminoapps.com/c/straykids/page/blog/stiny-collab-day-2/lJp8_3YHQu3DKNK2qvM4p2mZ40EEvY1GewHq) related to this story for the STINY amino collab!

After the meeting Chan trudged back up to room A305, heaping all his bags through the elevator again.  _ Gods _ , what was even the person that had been inside the room going to think? Chan had just opened the door and then slammed it shut again. Not the best start for what would hopefully turn into a friendship.

He sucked in a deep breath to gather some courage before putting the key in the lock. What was he going to say to them? Could he really just say he thought the room was a single? Now that he knew the size of it, it seemed so obvious that no room in the corridor was smaller than a double.

With one more sigh he turned the key and let the door fall open, and almost instantly took a step back. The sight of a person standing right there, just inside the room, made him startle.

It was a young man, with dark locks curling gently over his forehead, his skin shining as radiantly as if it was the sun.

“Minho-ya, he’s back now,” he called back into the room, and then smiled at Chan. “Hi, I’m Kim Woojin. Management came and said we’d get another nature spirit as a roommate.”

It was an obvious invite for Chan to explain more on that, but what could he say? ‘ _ I don’t know what type I am because I don’t know what types of nature spirits exists’ _ ? Yeah, like that would go down well.

“My name’s Bang Chan,” he settled for saying instead.

“I don’t know how much your room has been installed for your needs, but if you need a little sunlight you can always come hang out in my room.”

“Don't you dare touch my fish tank, though,” a voice called from deeper into the room.

“Minho-ya, you don’t even have any fish in it,” Woojin shot back, and soon after a guy came into the entrance area.

That was probably the guy Chan had seen when he first opened the door — he felt like he would have remembered if it had been Woojin.

“Still, don’t touch it.” Minho sent Chan a glare that had him taking a step back.

“Okay, no, I won’t. I’ll even stay away from your room.” Well, that was assuming they all had individual bedrooms. But the warden had made it seem as if at least Chan did when he spoke to her.

Minho barked out a laugh. “You’re funny.” Before Chan could really start wondering what that even meant, Minho left again.

“He can be a little weird, sometimes,” Woojin explained in a hushed voice. “Do you want help with those?”

“Uh, thanks,” Chan nodded, handing off one of the suitcases to Woojin.

Woojin turned and walked further into the room, which Chan was becoming inclined to call an apartment rather than a room, seeing as the entrance hall turned into a living room and kitchen combo.

“Have you eaten?” Woojin asked, going toward one of four doors along the further wall. “Minho-ya and I were working on dinner before you came.”

“Yeah,” Chan lied — he couldn't exactly explain why he  _ couldn’t _ eat anything, “I had some on the way here.”

“Okay,” Woojin nodded, “there will probably be some left-overs, so if you feel hungry later you can just raid the fridge.”

“Just don’t touch the blood,” Minho said around a spoon, sat at a small dining table.

“The blood?” Chan questioned. Did they really keep blood in their fridge?

“Minho-ya!” Woojin scolded, one hand on the doorknob of one of the doors. “You’re gonna scare him away.” He turned back to Chan and added, “We do  _ not _ have any blood in the fridge, Minho just has some containers that are labeled blood so no one will touch them.”

“Okay...” He trailed off, still not completely wrapping his head around what was going on, but feeling it best to just agree with whatever they said.

“Do you want any help unpacking your things?” Woojin smiled, and practically the whole room lit up.

“No, thank you,” Chan answered, close to stuttering. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Well, this is your room. You can call for either of us if you need help.”

“Sure.”

Woojin stepped back to the kitchen part of the room, and as he did, Minho leaned over the table towards Chan and stage whispered, “Isn’t he just a literal sun?”

Chan did not have an answer to that. What could he even answer that? Fortunately, Woojin stepped in for him.

“Minho-ya, it’s not nice to talk about people behind their backs.” Minho pouted, but there was no way Woojin could see with his back turned to them. “No pouting. Maybe I want to tell him, for once?”

Chan looked between them, once again completely lost.

When Woojin turned back around, he said to Chan, “I’m a descendant of samjogo, so in a way you could say there’s a bit of the sun in me.”

To be completely honest, Chan didn’t actually know a lot of Korean mythology. It hadn’t really come up in school in Australia, and his family had never felt a need to tell him about it, seeing as they were all human. Well, at least Chan used to be human.

“You don’t know samjogo?” Minho asked, incredulous. “How though, they’re like the most famous. Sort of.”

“I’m from Australia.”

The words seemed to catch them off guard, Woojin even frowning. “But your Korean… I can’t hear an accent in it?”

“My family spoke it at home a little, and I’ve been here for a few years now,” Chan explained. “But thanks, I guess.” He scratched his neck, the silence that settled feeling awkward. “I should probably get my stuff unpacked before I’m too tired.”

Before they could say anything else Chan retreated to his room, as quick as he could with all his bags with him. The room certainly wasn’t big to start with, but with two suitcases and a duffel bag, it seemed almost cramped. There was a bed pushed up against the wall to his right, with a dresser between it and the window. To his left was a small-ish desk and a chair, and next to it what must be his fridge. He chanced a look inside, but it was empty, like he’d expected.

There was just a single light in the ceiling to light the room up, but sunlight was still coming in from the window, casting the room in a soft orange glow. As much as Chan enjoyed the coziness of it, he could feel his eyes starting to sting from having been out in the sunlight all day. It was one of the things he missed with being human. In Australia there was sun practically all the time, and he had always enjoyed that. And now… he couldn’t even have that part of his childhood anymore.

Reluctantly, he moved forward to close the blinds over the window.

His bags were mostly stuffed with clothes, so he set to getting them unpacked. Perhaps the unpacking would be enough of a distraction from the thirst tearing at his throat.

It proved, however, to not be enough of a distraction. When most of his clothes had been unpacked, he realised he still had the blood bag packed in his bag, surely having gone bad by now. He knew they did something to the blood so that it would stay “fresh” for longer and to keep it from coagulating, but it still needed to be kept cold for the most part.

He dug it out of the bag, and went to put it in the fridge, but ended up just staring at it. Maybe he should just have a quick sniff… just to make sure it was still okay. Gently, so as to not spill anything, he removed the tap and took a sniff. There wasn’t anything obviously off about it, but maybe he should have a small taste of it too — just to make sure.

When the first tang of metal hit his tongue, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Even through the saltiness of it, it still tasted heavenly, quickly clenching his thirst. Before he knew it, the bag was empty.

Wisps of regret swirled in his stomach, but the satisfaction of no longer feeling the thirst was keeping it from taking root properly. He knew he’d regret it come morning, but couldn’t find it in himself to do so now.

Throwing the bag into the trash, he set to unpacking the rest of his stuff.

 

**[3racha]**

**CB97** : im sorry

**SPEARB** : uh   
**SPEARB** : what for?

**CB97** : i didnt finish the song today

**J.One** : chan-hyung it’s 2am   
**J.One** : go the fuck to sleep

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First fun creature notes!
> 
> Samjogo 삼족오 (三足烏) three legged crow
> 
> It is a symbol of power, regarded higher than both the dragon and the phoenix.  
> According to Chinese myths, Sanzuwu (三足烏) is a bird that carries/lives in/is the sun. There were 10 of them, and one of them carried the sun over the sky each day.  
> They also came down to earth to eat, and one day they all came down together, burning earth, but a celestial archer saved earth by shooting down all but one of them.  
> There's also various Korean myths with samjogo - you can read some more [here](http://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/5550), or the [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-legged_crow) for some more from Chinese and Japanese mythology too.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm going on a riding camp for a few days/almost a week, so I won't be updating anything for at least that time. This is mostly for "a koala joined the chat" that I've been updating regularly - I'm Not going to code the chapters for that on my phone, not gonna happen.


	3. Being dramatic, or being realistic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the idea/concept of nature spirits as encompassing all types of supernatural creatures*  
> me: neat, i like that! i can make them anything!  
> me: *somehow makes all of them as if the predecesors were monster fuckers*  
> me:  
> me: that's not what i wanted :(
> 
> FINALLY I have finished this - took me long enough, but it's 3k!
> 
> third chapter and the semester still haven't started? yup. next chapter though, next chapter.
> 
>  **a slight warning:** there is talk about blood and blood-drinking in this chapter, nothing too bad, I think, but could be if you're squeamish with blood

Chan wanted to die. Well, not really. But maybe. Just a little bit. And maybe he would — it sure felt like it. To be honest, even though he’d been a vampire for a few years, Chan didn’t  _ actually _ know if not drinking blood for too long could kill him. Like, logically it should, right? There was a reason he needed the blood in the first place.

~~~~~

Thursday started out okay. He woke up, early as usual, but without the by now familiar hunger. Just a slow waking, happy that he’d closed the blinds yesterday.

Not wanting to wake his roommates, he spent the early morning quietly sorting his things, going through his booklist to double check what books he was missing for which courses, and cleaning away some of the dust that had settled in corners around the room. All throughout this he avoided the fridge, trying to ignore what it would remind him off. Not having any blood for so many days — it was something he did not want to think about. It hadn’t ended well last time.

Only when he heard movements somewhere else in the apartment did he move out of the room. At first he could only see a mop of hair move around the kitchenette, but soon realised it had to be Minho.

“Morning.”

Minho jumped at the words, twirling around to glare at Chan. “I forgot about you.”

Under any other circumstances Chan would have felt offended, but he realised it must have just slipped out.

Minho moved to open a cupboard and asked, “Coffee? Woojin-hyung usually wakes up later when he can.”

“Sure,” Chan replied, and took a seat at the table. Minho had probably just been startled by hearing someone when he was used to Woojin still being asleep, that made sense.

“So, what are you doing up this early?” Minho asked once the coffee was done and he handed a mug to Chan.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Chan answered, gently blowing on the coffee to cool it down.

“Ah, I see.”

They fell into silence after, one that felt awkward, but Chan couldn’t feel bothered to care about that.

After a while, Minho set his mug down, and turned his focus to Chan. It was unnerving, to have all his focus on him like that.

“So, they told us you were also a nature spirit,” Minho started, “but they never specified it more than that.”

It was an obvious invite for him to explain, like with Woojin yesterday, but Chan still knew nothing more of what to tell them. He really didn’t know what he could get away with telling them — what would keep them from being suspicious of him.

In a panic, he said, “A drop bear.”

Minho blinked quisically at him, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s like, uh, an angry koala,” Chan tried explaining. “They’re native to Australia, pretty rare. My parents said we’re some form of descendants of them.” Internally, he gave himself a pat on the back for that explanation. He couldn’t have fooled anyone actually from Australia, but hopefully Minho would take it as the truth.

“Ah, fascinating,” Minho said and sipped his coffee, his tone flat and face unreadable. Chan couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or honest. To be completely honest Minho unnerved him slightly, but he would never actually admit that.

Chan stood up, taking his half-drunk coffee mug in hand. “I’ll just… I have some books for class I still need go get.” He wasn’t really sure what else to say, so he rinsed out the mug, cleaned it and put it on the dishrack before retreated back to his room. All throughout this, Minho said nothing. Chan wasn’t sure if that’s actually the kind of person he was, or if he just did it to mess with and unnerve Chan.

~~~~~

So while Thursday started out okay, the rest of the week went … questionably.

~~~~~

Chan had always been unsettled by the fact that he could smell people’s blood. Usually he could ignore it, but … Well, it was a survival instinct, wasn’t it? Meant to keep him from starving.

He spent most of the time in his room, only at times emerging to get to know his roommates. It meant that he didn't really smell them, until Saturday, when his hunger flared and the smell of their blood crept in through his closed door.

Chan wanted to die. Well, not really. But maybe. Just a little bit. And maybe he would — it sure felt like it. To be honest, even though he’d been a vampire for a few years, Chan didn’t  _ actually _ know if not drinking blood for too long could kill him. Like, logically it should, right? There was a reason he needed the blood in the first place.

The last thing he wanted was a repeat of  _ that _ , so he needed a solution, and he needed it quick. Because, well, it was either he ended up biting someone, or he died. But he'd probably bite someone before that happened.

**[Jimin-noona]**

**Channie** : jimin can you die from bloodloss?

**Jimin-noona** : what the hell chan??? of course i can?!

**Channie** : no i meant like can i die if i don’t drink any blood for too long?

**Jimin-noona** : well i wouldn’t test it if I was you

**Channie** : but how is too long?? pls jimin

**Jimin-noona** : idk im not an expert? i basically know nothing about vampires!   
**Jimin-noona** : how long since you drank?

**Channie** : i had my last bloodbag on wednesday   
**Channie** : i was just gonna take a little of it but then i had suddenly drunk all of it   
**Channie** : i usually get more on fridays   
**Channie** : but now i wont get more until monday and it feels like im dying   
**Channie** : or something

**Jimin-noona** : oh   
**Jimin-noona** : maybe you’re a little dramatic?

**Channie** : no i fucked up nd drank too much on monday   
**Channie** : so i only had one bag when i got here on wednesday   
**Channie** : and i was so hungry   
**Channie** : and i was supposed to have a single room   
**Channie** : but for some reason they put me in a combo with two other people   
**Channie** : i can smell them jimin

**Jimin-noona** : oh   
**Jimin-noona** : well that’s not good at least   
**Jimin-noona** : but you don’t really have a choice but to get through the weekend   
**Jimin-noona** : you can’t really start the semester with biting your roommate(s)

**Channie** : they dont even know im a vampire because the school doesnt allow me to tell anyone   
**Channie** : they think im a nature spirit   
**Channie** : which is really ficking complicated because im pretty sure they both are nature spirits of some kind

**Jimin-noona** : well shit   
**Jimin-noona** : that’s certainly a mess   
**Jimin-noona** : y’know that self-feeding trick i told you I’d heard about?

**Channie** : yeah?

**Jimin-noona** : maybe you’ll have to try that?

**Channie** : but didn’t you also say that it might make me feel sick??

**Jimin-noona** : yeah but i think that’s better than you biting your roommate(s), don’t you think?

Chan let his phone fall out of his grip down onto the comforter. Was that really his only choice? Where would he even bite? Everyone always talked about vampires biting peoples necks, but he’d have a hard time doing that to himself. Well, there was one more spot...

He bit into his left wrist, the sting sharp but the taste heavenly. The pain vanished quickly, instead replaced by a varm tingling moving all the way out into his fingertips. He had to stop not long after, his head spinning from the blood leaving his veins, but his throat and stomach seemed satisfied, no longer screaming in hunger.

He just had one minor, bloody detail to take care of. The wound didn’t heal by itself, instead leaving two tiny holes in his wrist, not really bleeding, but some blood had been smeared around as he drank, leaving his wrist looking gruesome.

He pulled his sleeve down over it, trying to not smear more blood around, and stood up from the bed. The movement made his head spin and his stomach churn unpleasantly. Okay, bathroom it was.

He opened the door only slightly at first, checking to see if he could see either of his roommates — if he could get to the bathroom without them noticing his wrist, that would be great. He closed the door when he deemed the coast clear and hurried over to the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he sat down on the closed toilet seat to take just one moment to make his head stop spinning.

When it finally did he walked over to the sink and turned it on, putting his wrist under the running water. The blood washed away quickly, only remnants of it the slightly pink-tinted water that soon disappeared down the drain. Right, onto the next step.

He hadn’t actually properly checked out what was inside the bathroom, only knowing that inside one of the cupboards they had one shelf for themselves. But there should be some bandages or something somewhere, right? He found a roll of gauze in the cupboard over the sink, winding it around his wrist, cutting it off with the pair of scissors found next to it and securing it with a bit of tape. It would have to do, even if it was just a tad bit overkill for the actual size of the wound. Oh well.

He headed back out the bathroom, planning on going back to his bedroom, but had to stop halfway to collapse onto the couch.

“You okay?” Minho asked from the kitchenette.

“Peachy,” Chan said through clenched teeth, trying to avoid the blood he’d just drank coming back up again.

“Are you sure?” Minho asked, seeming hesitant about something. “If you’re feeling sick, I could make you something that could help.”

Chan turned to look at him over the back of the couch. “You’d do that? You barely even know me.”

“Well, we’re roommates,” Minho shrugged, “and it’s not like I hate you, even though you’re kinda antisocial.”

“Sorry about that.”

“No problem. So, about that drink?”

“Yeah,” Chan smiled, “thank you.” He slumped back against the couch, closing his eyes and simply listened as Minho rummage around the kitchenette, fixing whatever drink he thought could help Chan. Chan doubted it, really, but it was starting to seem like he actually knew very little about the supernatural world.

"How exactly are you feeling sick?" Minho called to him after a few minutes had passed.

"Don't think I'm sick, but my head spins and my stomach aches."

"It's because you don't eat," Minho tsked, coming up to him with a large class of … something.

"I do!" Chan protested, eyeing the glass varily.

"You haven't eaten with us a single time." Minho was frowning slightly, but thrusted the glass to Chan with a bright smile.

Chan took it, albeit hesitantly. "I don't like eating with other people." It was more a lie than anything, he had always loved eating and had no problem doing it with other people, but Minho didn't know that about him. He wouldn't need to know it, either.

"Fine then," Minho sighed. "But at least drink this, it will make you feel better, promise."

Chan took a deep breath to gather courage, still not convinced that the off-red, brown mixture could actually taste good. He lifted the glass to his lips and took a small sip. Instantly he took a big gulp, thoroughly shocked by how wonderful it tasted. It was slightly coppery, like blood, the consistency of it thicker than he'd thought it would be. To be honest, that also reminded him of blood. He put the glass down halfway through, taking a moment to breath and realise that he was actually already feeling better.

"Minho-ya tricked you into drinking that?"

When Chan looked up he found Woojin standing a few steps away, watching the scene with furrowed brows.

"It tastes good," Chan shrugged and picked the glass back up.

"Are you serious?" Woojin deadpanned. "His disgusting drink with water lilies tastes good?"

Chan swallowed and frowned. "There's water lilies in this? Are those really edible?"

"Yeah," Minho shrugged, "these are these special ones that turned red after a fisherman's daughter stabbed herself to death so she wouldn't be offered."

Chan stared at him in disbelief, blinking when Minho said nothing to indicate he was joking. "What?"

“I’m a neck,” Minho said, as if that was explanation enough.

“You’re … what?” As far as Chan knew everyone had a neck (well, he was pretty sure at least), but he’d never heard of someone  _ being _ a neck. How did that work?

Minho stared down at him, hands poised on his hips, clearly judging Chan. “You know, like the naked, violin playing man in a lake. Maybe you’ve heard the name Nixie? Nix? Nokken? There’s a lot of them.”

Chan shook his head.

“ _ How _ do you know so little about all of this?” Minho asked, both eyebrows raised in clear incredulity.

"Bad schools?" Chan shrugged. "And my family never really taught me much."

Minho turned to Woojin, his hands still on his lips. "Can you believe this guy?"

Woojin raised an eyebrow. "Yes. All that is more believable than your freaky blood-water-lilies drink tasting good."

"It does though," Chan protested, feeling like he should defend Minho considering he made him feel better. And he realised, it had slightly stilled his hunger. "It made me feel better, too."

"See!" Minho exclaimed triumphantly. "I told you it's supposed to help when you feel sick."

Woojin turned his lip up in disgust, and moved into the kitchenette. "If Chan likes it that's fine, but I'll stay far away from it."

Later, after he'd spent some time talking with Minho and Woojin to get to know them more but still in a bit of a shock over Minho's explanation, he walked back into his room and checked his phone. As expected, Jimin had flooded their group chat with Jae.

**[“call me zookeeper”]**

**Zookeeper** : hey chan is dead so i guess ill have to deal with just you now :/

**Chicken little** : wtf????!   
**Chicken little** : he dead?   
**Chicken little** : really..

**Zookeeper** : well he said he feels like he’s dying and i haven’t heard from in a while so he might be ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Chicken little** : youre not serious   
**Chicken little** : right????

**Zookeeper** : actually i wish i wasnt   
**Zookeeper** : well hes probably not dead but   
**Zookeeper** : he said he dont have any blood and he feels like hes dying   
**Zookeeper** : but hes probably just very hungry   
**Zookeeper** : probably

**Chicken little** : he doesnt have any blood??   
**Chicken little** : when did he last feed??

**Zookeeper** : i told him to try that self-feeding thing because he hasnt had any since wednesday   
**Zookeeper** : and then i havent heard anything else

**Kangaroo** : im   
**Kangaroo** : okay?

**Chicken little** : !!!

**Zookeeper** : chan!! how did it go??!

**Kangaroo** : terrible   
**Kangaroo** : i felt like shit   
**Kangaroo** : but then minho-ssi gave me this drink or something hed made   
**Kangaroo** : and it did make me feel a bit better   
**Kangaroo** : i think   
**Kangaroo** : i might also be a bit   
**Kangaroo** : messed up   
**Kangaroo** : that or minho-ssi really did tell me that there were water lilies coloured by some girls blood in that thing he made

**Chicken little** : !!!   
**Chicken little** : ???   
**Chicken little** : im   
**Chicken little** : what.the.fuck??

**Zookeeper** : im sorry what??

**Kangaroo** : he’s a neck apparently??

**Chicken little** : a What

**Kangaroo** : and there’s a story about how these red water lilies were coloured by the blood from a girl promised to a neck who killed herself so he wouldnt get her   
**Kangaroo** : today has been a weird fucking day

**Zookeeper** : you don’t say

**Kangaroo** : no wait scratch that   
**Kangaroo** : this week has been really fucking weird

**Chicken little** : has your semester even started yet??

**Kangaroo** : …   
**Kangaroo** : nope

~~~~~

A knock came upon his door later that afternoon, Minho on the other side when he opened the door.

"We've made food," he said, and pointed behind himself, "you're free to join if you like."

Chan furrowed his brow, wondering how he could get out of this.

Minho beat him to it. "If you're still not feeling well I can make more of that drink for you?"

Chan smiled. "That would be nice actually."

He followed Minho to the kitchenette and took a seat in between the two plates put on the round table. He nodded a greeting to Woojin, but didn't know what else to say.

Minho came to the table a few minutes later, another big glass with the drink in his hand. "I'm running out of water lilies," he said and took a seat. "I should have had mom sent me some last time."

Woojin only hummed as an answer, and put some food on his place. He seemed only somewhat engaged in what Minho was talking about, but Chan had too little of a clue what he was talking about to join in.

"I wish I also could turn into a horse," Minho whined, and took the ladle from Woojin to plate some food for himself.

"You always say that," Woojin said around a mouthful of food, as if he'd heard that many times before.

"Well, it's unfair that my mom can but I can't." Then he turned to Chan, and with a pout asked, "Right, Chan-ssi?"

"Your mom can turn into a horse?" he asked instead of answering, unable to come up with anything to say.

"Yeah, it's something some Neck can do," he waved off, "unfair, right?"

"I guess so?"

~~~~~

That evening, with his headache making itself slightly reminded again, after he'd heard both Woojin and Minho move around the bathroom before retreating to their rooms, he texted the group chat. He didn't expect neither Jisung nor Changbin to be awake, but got answers from them both almost instantly.

**[3racha]**

**CB97** : if i die i blame minho-ssi

**J.One** : who?? is minho??

**SPEARB** : why would you die?!?

**CB97** : he gave me this drink with waterlilies coloured by the blood of a girl who stabbed herself   
**CB97** : are waterlilies even edible?

**SPEARB** : “coloured by the blood of a girl who stabbed herself”?????   
**SPEARB** : CHAN WHAT???!

**J.One** : but who is minho??

**CB97** : he’s a neck   
**CB97** : he said his mom can turn into a horse   
**CB97** : that’s really weird right?

**J.One** : not really??

**J.One** : I’m a dragon, Changbin-hyung’s a werewolf and one of my roommates can turn into a fox

**CB97** : oh   
**CB97** : my head feels weird   
**CB97** : this week has been very strange

**SPEARB** : not to turn into jisung

**J.One** : hey!

**SPEARB** : but how do you know minho?

**CB97** : hes one of my roommates

**SPEARB** : weren’t you supposed to have a single?

**CB97** : yup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (so you can see that I have adopted the chaoticness of chan in "a koala joined the chat" into this fic too... not intentional)
> 
> To the commenter who asked if Minho also was a vampire: I AM SORRY IF MY REPLY HINTED AT HIM BEING THAT, I hadn't even realised what I had written came of like that, I was referring to the water lilies, so yeah...
> 
> Okay,! Onto my elaborate notes on Minho as a Neck!  
> Can I just say that the name "neck" is so weird to me??? But also I see where it probably came from - "näcken".
> 
> So, the Neck is a being in Scandinavian/Germanic folklore. Traditionally it's a man, who resides in bodies of water, and naked plays his violin to lure people down with him. There is also "Bäckahästen", where the whole thing that Minho's mom can turn into a horse comes from. It's basically a horse that lures people into riding on it, and when they do it runs into the water to drown them.
> 
> And then the water lilies. Oh boy, the water lilies. That story of them is not something I have made up. There is a small lake in Sweden, called Fagertärn, where genetic mutations of the standard white water lily had made red ones. And the story around that is exactly that of the girl who killed herself and the blood ran out into the water and coloured the white lilies red. Her dad had promised her to the Neck in exchange that he would be able to catch a lot of fish. And when the day came, she did not want to give herself to him. The english wikipedia article for the Neck has some more detailed info ([x](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_\(water_spirit\))). If you can read Swedish, this is some more info about Fagertärn ([x](https://www.tiveden.se/upptack-tiveden/besoksmal/fagertarn/)).  
> If you ever get a chance to visit Fagertärn I absolutely think you should! It's a beautiful lake, and taking the walk all around the lake is also very nice - somehow all the times I have been there the water surface has been very still, like a mirror, even the one time if rained.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on:  
> [tumblr](https://s-kiz.tumblr.com/)  
> [amino](https://aminoapps.com/c/nctamino/page/user/s-kiz/aVPb_Wg2TQfKgkxlJNdXmRb2VzZVww1N7KE)  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/bangpeachchan) (that i barely use)


End file.
